Stambouli & Capoue fail their auditions
CRYSTAL PALACE | Premier League | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | ||||
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Tottenham XI: Lloris (c), Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Dembele, Stambouli; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Kane
Tottenham Subs: Vorm, Davies, Kaboul, Capoue, Lennon, Paulinho, Soldado
Tottenham Goalscorer: Kane
Too many Tottenham players had an off day, Andros Townsend spent the first half passing the ball into touch for some reason and was anonymous for the rest of the game. His only contribution was an easy ball to an overlapping Kyle Walker which resulted in a chance for Eriksen.
But Benjamin Stambouli is increasingly not looking the answer to me as a holding midfielder. he gives the impression of always being late which is a consequence of not reading the game quick enough. We can argue all day about the penalty, personally I don't think it was one, but from the referee's angle it was. The fact is he dived in and the referee had to make a decision.
If that was a penalty then so was Harry Kane's but he hasn't yet learnt how to fall, every time he goes over it looks like a dive. The Palace player deliberately moves into Stambouli to go over and Kane had his lower shin tapped above the boot and went down. Neither player needed to go down but today's game is all about acting and the Palace player won the award.
I'm more concerned with Stambouli always looking off the pace, not greatly but slightly and then Etienne Capoue came on to make matters worse. He is a poor tracker and he react to play rather than anticipating it, which is a prerequisite of the defensive midfielder position. It's no surprise we are looking at bringing in Adrien Rabiot.
It's typical Spurs, beat the league leaders, lose to a team in the relegation zone.
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